


Reunion

by Ethren



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Hogwarts Mystery
Genre: A rewrite of that chapter, Art to go with it, Year 5, spoilers for hogwarts mystery, the reunion scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-22 06:41:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19661902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ethren/pseuds/Ethren
Summary: Ethren stepped over. He never took his eyes off his brother, not for a moment - and pressed his hand against the column. A golden glow erupted where his fingers touched and the frame of Jacob’s portrait burned with a white hot light. Ethren twisted away, shutting his eyes tight and when he looked back - Jacob was collapsed on the ground on one knee, breathing hard.Neither of them moved. Jacob’s head was bowed, shoulders shuddering as he recovered from his imprisonment. Ethren’s feet were frozen in place.This couldn’t be real. Jacob...he was back.Jacob lifted his head. Tears streamed down his face, and he gave a wary, exhausted smile. “.....Pip.”That did it.Ethren’s boots hammered across the marble floor, knees biting into the ground as he skidded towards Jacob. He threw his arms around his brother’s neck and sobbed. His face was buried into Jacob’s shoulder and Jacob froze, stunned as Ethren embraced him until his arms roped around his younger sibling’s frame, drawing him close. “Fuck...I missed you.”





	Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> Art is from my close friend zuulosdovah. https://zuulosdovah.tumblr.com/post/185794946066/the-art-i-made-to-go-with-kas-votons-rewrite-of#notes

Red. It was all Ethren could see as Rakepick flicked her wand and apparated away.His wand was clenched in his fist so tight his knuckles were white. He took one step towards where she vanished - when a hand grabbed his shoulder, clutching hard. “Ethren,” Ben says, gripping tight. 

“Don’t touch me,” Ethren snarled, eyes burning with fury. “I’m going to kill that bitch.”

“Let her go....we need to help Merula.”

Merula.

Ethren nearly dropped his wand as he spun on his heel. Merula’s head was being supported up on Bill’s lap, twitches still shooting through her body as she curled up, convulsing on the ground. Her breath was drawn in ragged gasps, gritting her teeth in pain.

Ethren dropped to his knees next to her. “Merula...” he grasped her hand. “Are you okay?” 

He’d heard stories...stories of people losing their minds to the cruciatus curse during the wizarding war.

Merula’s exhausted, violet eyes peeled open. Her forehead was slick with sweat, and she swallowed the lump in her throat. “...Whitecross,” she murmured under her breath. “Concerned, are we?”

“Hardly.” Ethren scooted forward, his hand drawing over her forehead. “Just can’t have my rival dying on me.”

A weak chuckle pushed past her dry lips. “Die? I’m the....greatest witch at Hogwarts....I can’t die.” 

“Yeah. You sure are.” He gave her hand another squeeze, and looked up towards the entrance into the vault. It was utterly silent and black as the void. No light pierced through the arcane darkness. He had no idea what lurked beyond...he almost didn’t want to know.

“Go.”

Ethren gave a start, looking back down at Merula. Her eyes were locked on his. “...I can’t just leave you here,” he said.

“It’s okay,” Ben sat down next to him. “We’ve got her. Go on...find your brother.”

Ethren lifted his gaze. Charlie, Bill, Merula, Ben....all of them were watching him. With understanding, with care. They wanted this for him...his friends.

His stomach twisted into knots. “...don’t die while I’m gone. I’ll be right back.” And Ethren pushed to his feet, turning towards the vault. 

Sweaty fingers curled around his wand, eyes narrowed. Rakepick could have been lying. Jacob might not be in there....or maybe he was dead. He wouldn’t be surprised to find some mangled corpse on the ground. But if he was there.....

“Whitecross.”

Ethren turned. Merula was watching him, humor twinkling in tired eyes. “...when you find that asshole of a brother of yours, punch him for me.”

“Yeah. Planned on it.”

Ethren took a breath - and ran. He sprinted towards the vault portrait, slammed his eyes shut and leapt through - and into the next room. He stumbled to a stop, looking back. He could see nothing but a wall, the portrait gateway closed behind him. His friends were gone. Ahead, he averted his eyes as a warm glow emitted from a column rising up from the center of the room. Just like all of the other vaults. It pulsated with dark energy, humming with power. 

The curse breaker swallowed and approached. He moved quietly, wand out in front of him and it sparked with energy as it responded to his emotions. There were no monsters. No dark mages. No Jacob. There was nothing...nothing but portraits. They covered the walls, portraits of kings and great wizards and scenes of bloody tragedy. Their eyes followed him. Sad eyes, empty eyes. They were silent, as though the very life had been sucked from the ink that crafted them.

“Jacob?” Ethren hissed under his breath. “Jacob...where are you?” 

He rotated around the pillar, looking at all the portraits closely. No Jacob. He could feel a lump of panic building in his throat. What if he wasn’t here. Was this a trap? Was he stuck here forever? Is that how Jacob died. 

Then his feet froze, staring at a portrait across the room. He’d walked right by it before. There was a figure hunched in the darkness of the painting, back to him and knees drawn to his chest. He hadn’t registered Ethren was in the room, didn’t turn to look at him like all the other portraits. 

Could it be...?

“Jacob...?” Ethren crept forward with caution. The end of his wand bloomed with silver light, illuminating the portrait. It could be a trap. There was no response. This man...he looked different from his brother. No ponytail, no punk rock clothes. He wore tattered robes, his hair was in a buzz cut and his features were thin and drawn. 

....but there was no mistaking it. It was him.

The wand clattered from Ethren’s fingers and rolled across the ground. He threw himself towards the painting, slamming into it and his fingers splayed across the portrait. His heart hammered against his chest. “Jacob! Can you hear me?” 

Jacob stirred, but didn’t turn. “It’s not you.”

Ethren drew a sharp breath. “What? No. Jacob. Just look at me.” Years. It had been years since he’d seen his brother. Right now, nothing else mattered. “Please.”

Slowly, Jacob turned. His skin was sallow and pale, shadows lingering like dark clouds beneath faded, teal eyes. His hair was shaved in a buzz cut...but it was him. Jacob’s gaze roamed over him, hesitantly, as though afraid to believe it were true. “...Ethren?”

“It’s me. I’m here.”

Ethren could practically see the twinkle in Jacob’s eyes as life returned to them.  _ “Ethren!”  _ Jacob twisted around, hands pressing against Ethren’s. He couldn’t feel the warmth of his brother’s touch. Only the cold ink of the portrait painting. “What are you doing here? You can’t be here. The dragon, it’s-”

“Gone. It’s safe. I have to get you-” Out. The word died on his tongue. Ethren stilled, watching his brother now with caution. “...is it really you?”

Hurt latched on to Jacob’s features. “What do you mean?” he hissed. “It’s me, Pip.”

The nickname made Ethren visibly cringed. The nickname they started calling each other after both brothers fell into the rabbit hole that is Lord of the Rings. “...you left.”

Jacob retracted his hand, as though Ethren had scalded him with boiling water. “I didn’t mean to. I...” he grit his teeth. “I was just trying to help you.”

“ _ Help me?” _ Ethren’s eyes flashed. His feet carried him mindlessly in a pace in front of the vault portrait. “You left. You left America, you left  _ me.  _ Then you disappeared for six years. Do you have  _ any _ idea what that’s done to our family?” Ethren’s voice had risen to a shout. He could feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as he stalked about in front of Jacob, who had taken on the expression of a scolded puppy. 

“I had to break your curse.”

The younger brother nearly tripped over his own feet as he came to a stop. His curse. He turned on Jacob, eyes narrowed to slits. They burned. “...I never asked for your help. All I wanted was for you to come back.”

“....I’m here now. Could you..” he gestured towards the pillar.

Oh. Right. 

Ethren stepped over. He never took his eyes off his brother, not for a moment - and pressed his hand against the column. A golden glow erupted where his fingers touched and the frame of Jacob’s portrait burned with a white hot light. Ethren twisted away, shutting his eyes tight and when he looked back - Jacob was collapsed on the ground on one knee, breathing hard. 

Neither of them moved. Jacob’s head was bowed, shoulders shuddering as he recovered from his imprisonment. Ethren’s feet were frozen in place. 

This couldn’t be real. Jacob...he was back.

Jacob lifted his head. Tears streamed down his face, and he gave a wary, exhausted smile. “.....Pip.”

That did it.

Ethren’s boots hammered across the marble floor, knees biting into the ground as he skidded towards Jacob. He threw his arms around his brother’s neck and sobbed. His face was buried into Jacob’s shoulder and Jacob froze, stunned as Ethren embraced him until his arms roped around his younger sibling’s frame, drawing him close. “Fuck...I missed you.”

“I missed you too. I’m..” the apology caught in Ethren’s throat. He could still feel his anger as a little boy, having learned that his brother had betrayed him, kept a terrible secret from him. But..he told himself that if he ever found his brother, he’d put it behind him. A ragged breath pushed from behind his lips. “...I’m sorry.”

Jacob stilled. “...what? Why?”

“Getting angry. Telling you that I hated you, that I wanted you gone. I...” his fingers tightened, curling into Jacob’s shirt. “I didn’t mean it. When you left, I...bloody hell, I didn’t know what to do.”

“I tried to get back. But Ethren...” he gripped on to Ethren’s shoulders now, pulling away to look at him. “Why are you here? Why are you in  _ Hogwarts?  _ I thought you were going to Ilvermorny.”

“I was. But I had to find you. Your secret room, the Cursed Vaults, I know about them. I’ve been following the clues that you left and-”

“Wait, wait.” Jacob shook his head. “Clues? What clues? I didn’t leave you any clues.”

Ethren’s breath lodged in his throat. “...what? But...but your wand, your journal, the map of the Forbidden Forest, you left those for me...didn’t you.”

Jacob’s jaw dropped. “...no. Ethren, I wouldn’t want you anywhere near these vaults.  _ Why would I leave you clues?” _

Ethren watched the pillar. It vibrated with energy, tendrils of magic lifting off of it, illuminating the room in a sickly, yellow glow. “R.”

Jacob tensed. “...you know about R?”

“Yeah. They’ve approached me before. Rakepick works for them.”

Ethren jolted as Jacob snarled, tearing to his feet. His eyes burned with cold fury. “Rakepick?” He growled, fists clenching. “That bitch is here? Where is she. I thought...I thought the dragon would have gotten her.”

“Gone. She apparated away.”

Jacob’s fist slammed into the wall. His shoulders trembled. His back was a line of tight tension as he leaned against the wall and Ethren slowly rose to his feet. “...Jacob,” he says carefully, eyes on the back of his brother’s head. “Forget her. Come on...we have to go back. We can go back to Hogwarts, explain everything to Dumbledore, get you a new wand-”

“I can’t.”

I can’t. The words were like a whip lashing into Ethren, knocking the breath out of his lungs. “...what? Why not?”

Jacob grated his teeth. The hand pressed against the stone wall curled into a fist. “You wouldn’t understand. I  _ have  _ to go after her.”

“Why?!”

Ethren grabbed Jax’s shoulder, twisting him around and shoved him, hard against the wall. “Do you have any idea what I’ve been through? I’ve battled werewolves, boggarts, dementors, dark wizards, dragons...I put  _ belching powder _ in people’s  _ butterbeer.... _ all to find you. You have to come home. Mom, dad...” his lips flatlined. “Me. We...we  _ need _ you, Jacob.” His voice broke. I need you.”

Jacob was watching the pillar, raking it with icy contempt. “I can’t stop,” he whispered. Teal eyes dropped down to his hands, and he held them out in front of him, as though he were looking at his palms. The kind of look a man might have if he were looking down to hands soaked in blood. “I can’t...I’ve come too far.”

“Then let me help you.”

Jacob snorted. “No, Pip. This is my fight.”

“Did you miss the part where I literally just said I dueled a dragon for you.”

“That’s exactly why I can’t let you come with me.”

Jacob’s fingers latched on to Ethren’s shoulders. Hard. His nails dug into his skin, nearly piercing through and his eyes...they were frantic. Desperate. They fanned over Ethren’s features, soaking in every detail, as though one day he might forget them. “I can’t let you die. I have to save you.”

“...then don’t leave.”

Jacob shook his head, and drew a wand from his cloak. It wasn’t his. It was long, black and sleek with a glistening red ruby at the end of the hilt. “They said they would break your curse...tell mom I’m sorry.”

Wait. No!  _ “Jacob!” _

Ethren leapt into action, springing at Jacob - and Jacob’s wand flicked lightning fast. Not a single word left his lips, but Ethren felt the spell knock into his chest with the force of a hammer, sending him dazed against the wall. His head was pounding, slumping down onto the floor. 

He couldn’t give up.

“Please,” Ethren begged, pushing to his feet - only to be knocked right back down, another spell crashing against his ribcage. Again and again, every time he tried to stand. Ethren was sprawled on the ground now. His entire body burned and ached. 

Jacob snarled, waving his wand and a red bolt of light hit Ethren’s chest, bashing him back against the wall.  _ “Stay down!” _ Tears ran down the older brother’s face, the wand trembling in his hand. 

Ethren’s vision swam. Another pead tore into the darkness.  _ “Don’t leave.  _ Please...” He couldn’t hear his own voice. He couldn’t hear Jacob’s. And through the blotches of black that were beginning to float over his vision, he could see Jacob’s lips moving. 

_ I’m sorry. _

Jacob waved the stranger’s wand and in a crack of white light - he was gone, and Ethren slumped back against the wall.

“Ethren!”

A hand shaking his shoulder pulled Ethren back into consciousness. His head was aching. His chest burned. Bill’s hand was on his shoulder, Merula, Ben and Charlie standing about anxiously. Merula was being supported by Charlie, her face ashen. 

“What happened?” Ben dropped down next to Ethren with concern. “Where’s your brother?”

Jacob. Dully, Ethren looked over to the spot where his brother had been. He was gone. His portrait was empty. Like he’d never been there to begin with. 

His heart shattered in his chest. He didn’t answer for a long while and finally, he pushed slowly to his feet. 

“....I forgot to punch him.”

**Author's Note:**

> More of Ethren Whitecross can be found here. http://hogwartsmysterystory.tumblr.com


End file.
